Faith is not a refuge from reality. It is a demand that we face reality ... The true subject matter of religion is not our own little souls, but the Eternal God and His whole mysterious purpose, and our solemn responsibility to Him.
Interpretation
Faith encourages us to confront reality rather than escape from it, emphasizing our responsibility towards a greater purpose.
Evelyn Underhill's quote highlights that faith should not be seen as a means of avoiding the challenges of reality; instead, it calls for a courageous engagement with those challenges. She emphasizes that the core of religious belief is not merely individual spirituality, but an overarching connection to the divine and the responsibilities that come with it, urging us to think beyond ourselves and consider the larger, mysterious purpose of existence.
In practice
In a discussion about confronting challenges in life, this quote can serve as a reminder to not shy away from reality.
Nothing in all nature is so lovely and so vigorous, so perfectly at home in its environment, as a fish in the sea. Its surroundings give to it a beauty, quality, and power which are not its own. We take it out, and at once a poor, limp dull thing, fit for nothing, is gasping away its life. So the soul, sunk in God, living the life of prayer, is supported, filled, transformed in beauty, by a vitality and a power which are not its own.
As the beautiful does not exist for the artist and poet alone—though these can find in it more poignant depths of meaning than other men—so the world of Reality exists for all; and all may participate in it, unite with it, according to their measure and to the strength and purity of their desire.
God is always coming to you in the Sacrament of the Present Moment. Meet and receive Him there with gratitude in that sacrament.
Spiritual reading is a regular, essential part of the life of prayer, and particularly is it the support of adoring prayer.
As the genuine religious impulse becomes dominant, adoration more and more takes charge. 'I come to seek God because I need Him', may be an adequate formula for prayer. 'I come to adore His splendour, and fling myself and all that I have at His feet', is the only possible formula for worship.
I have an idea heaven will be both absolutely happy and absolutely dark, to protect us from the blaze of God.
We may idealize freedom, but when it comes to our habits, we are completely enslaved.
I'm about looking at each of those perceived menacing black men that you see in the streets all over the place, people that you oftentimes will walk past without assuming that they have the same humanity, fears that we all do.
The American dream is not that every man must be level with every other man. The American dream is that every man must be free to become whatever God intends he should become.
Baseball is like church. Many attend few understand.
The Pacific no longer represents menacing avenues of approach for a prospective invader. It assumes, instead, the friendly aspect of a peaceful lake. Our line of defense is a natural one and can be maintained with a minimum of military effort and expense.
We are conscious that religions cannot solve the economic, political and social problems of this earth.
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